Telstra expands its unlimited plans, includes new $199 plan with unlimited full speed data

24 Jul 2018

Renaming the unlimited data portion of select new plans as "peace of mind data" that eliminates excess usage charges, there are of course still some limits but the new plans are the best Telstra has ever offered.

Telstra says its customers can "today say goodbye to additional data fees in Australia with the launch of selected new mobile plans, part of the company’s first set of changes under its Telstra2022 (T22) strategy".

Quite what happened to the respectable single space between Telstra and 2022 is unknown, but we can only assume that space has had its job squeezed out as part of Telstra's planned 8000 staff reduction plans (as the CEPU union is decrying), leaving that space with no peace of mind as it has been completely spaced out.

Australia Singapore Cable laying phase complete: Vocus

Vocus has declared the laying phase of the 4600km Australia Singapore Cable (ASC) as complete, saying on Monday the final splice was completed south-east of Singapore.

Running between Perth and Singapore, the giant new digital pipe is being pushed by the carrier as a pivotal increase in capacity between Australia and Asia because it will provide a second subsea cable to soak up internet traffic that now is often piped via the US.

The route out of Singapore, however, traverses shallower waters where subsea cable breakages are frequent.

Experts differ on reason for slow Australian broadband speeds

24 Jul 2018

Two experienced commentators on Australia's national broadband network, the NBN, have drawn different conclusions from the broadband speed data by Ookla, the company that provides the online Speedtest application for testing download and upload speeds.

According to the Ookla data, Australia, while doing well in mobile download speeds and ranking 8th globally with speeds of 50.53 Mbps, has fallen to 54th position in fixed broadband download speeds with an average of 30.82Mbps.

Rod Tucker, Laureate Emeritus Professor at the University of Melbourne and a member of Labor's Expert Panel that advised on the NBN, compared the speeds of Australia, China, the US and Singapore, and pointed out that an important turning point was clearly visible in 2013 and 2014.

Telstra, Vic government partner for new mobile base stations

20 Jul 2018

Telstra today detailed its plan to construct 17 new mobile base stations across Victoria, with the telco and the state government each chipping in $7 million to fund the rollout.

In addition the telco said it would put up to $1 million towards the rollout of small cells and Telstra Go Repeaters’ — a range of portable and fixed mobile repeaters launched in May — in Victoria’s emergency service operation centres and vehicles.

“Among the 17 new bases stations are Benloch East in the Macedon Ranges, Annuello in the Mallee, Cobungra in the Alpine National Park and Buckland Valley near Mt Buffalo,” Telstra’s executive director, network commercial and construction engineering, Sri Amirthalingam, wrote in a blog entry.

Telstra gets $7M in Vic Govt partnership

Telstra has been awarded more than $7 million in government funding to supply new base stations across Victoria.

The new partnership with the Victorian Government will see 17 new base stations built across the state.

In a blog post, Telstra executive director for network commercial and construction engineering, Sri Amirthalingham, said the $7 million funding will be matched, taking the investment to more than $14 million.

“We will now commence the detailed planning and approvals process, with a view to connecting the sites by the end of December 2019,” Amirthalingham said.

More mobile phone towers

20 Jul 2018

COMMUNICATIONS are set to improve in a number of the region’s most remote locations with the State Government announcing the locations of its latest round of mobile phone towers this week.

As part of round three of the Victorian Mobile Black Spot Project (VMBSP), the government is partnering with Optus and Telstra to build 28 new mobile towers across the state, with Carboor (Telstra), Cheshunt South (Telstra), Warby Range (Optus), and Woolshed Valley (Telstra) named on the list of locations.

2018 Regional Telecommunications Review Committee to visit Tamworth

The committee gets together every three years to examine telecommunication services issues in regional, rural and remote areas.

Six members from across Australia have been appointed to the Committee including Tamworth’s Robbie Sefton, who will fly the flag for the region when the committee convenes for a consultation meeting in Tamworth on July 25.